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As you may know, we're fortunate to have several Physicians "on staff"
(amazing what a T-shirt and cap will do...). Seriously, these guys are not just Fantasy Football Junkies, they're Physicians who deal with these types of injuries for a living. Every once in a while, we'll get one of our Docs to share some insights. Today is one of those times. One of our readers in a dynasty league asked me today whether Marcus Robinson's ACL / LCL injury was worse than Germane Crowell's Patella Tendon injury. I may not know a lot but I know when I'm over my head so this question was immediately passed on to Footballguy.com Physician, Dr. C.J. Coshal, MD. Here's his reply: Hi Joe, Good question. Glad to help. First, both of these are season ending injuries. ACL injuries used to be career enders, but no more. With more refined surgery and stapling techniques the ACL can be repaired. It however is the major stabilizing ligament to the knee joint and it takes a lot of rehab to get back the mobility and feeling comfortable so that the repair is going to support you when you cut. That is why most guys with ACL injuries; come back the next year but don't do as well as the second year after the injury. If it had just been Marcus' LCL or MCL there was a chance he could have made it back this season but paired with the ACL, it was a fatal blow. Although Crowell's injury ends his season - in theory, it should have far less implications for long term recovery. First, to repair this you don't even need to open the knee joint. The repair is done by stapling the tendon to the top of the main bone in the lower leg - the tibia. Anytime you can avoid opening a joint space, recovery is quicker. Now it will still take a lot of rehab - thousands of leg lifts without and then with weights but once the muscle strength is regained from just nonuse - the leg will be strong and stable. It will be much less affected by cutting, etc. The biggest problem for Germane is to be aggressive with strength conditioning so it doesn't limit his jumping ability. He's pretty tall so even if he loses a couple of vertical leap inches it wont be that noticeable. So to make this short and sweet - anytime you have a choice between players with these two injuries occurring at the same time you can bet A) The ACL / MCL / LCL injury will take longer to recover from B) That ACL / MCL / LCL injury has more implications for running and cutting after the catch. Where the art of medicine enters into this is that two different individuals will approach their rehab differently. Someone with a more serious injury and a more diligent approach to their recovery can still surprise you. My best guess, Crowell will come back strong by early next season. Robinson will be slower to recover and you have to see how that affects him. Can he regain pre-injury form? - Yes, but probably not for 1 1/2 - 2 years. Hope that helps. By the way, I am not surprised at Hearst's recovery as I predicted but you still have to admire the sheer patience and determination it must have taken. Sounds like good qualities for a RB. Unfortunately for Robert Edwards, he had the heart but there are some injuries you CANT come back from. I am also less than surprised at Eddie George's slow start. I think everyone underestimated his toe injury - it sounds like such a little thing right? Well, put your foot on the floor and push off - where does all the weight go --to the base of your toes. I think he can still have good games but probably not till the second half of the season. /**/**/**/**/**/**/**/**/**/**/**/**/**/**/**/**/ Thanks Doc! You da Man. Joe /**/**/**/**/**/**/**/**/**/**/**/**/**/**/**/**/ Bryant Analytics, Inc. All Rights Reserved 1999-2001 To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: cheatsheets-unsubscribe@egroups.com Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
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